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Former Drug Warrior Now Lives With his Parents

The power shift in Washington isn’t looking favorably on the folks who ran Bush's drug war. Oh, the irony:

Justin Rand, 24, formerly a "confidential assistant" in the White House's drug policy office, exited right before the election to work on John McCain's campaign -- so, he hoped, he could remain at the White House. After McCain's loss, Rand could no longer stay in Washington because, among other reasons, he couldn't find a job. He has since moved in with his parents in Jacksonville, Fla. [Washington Post]

So basically, this guy got hooked on anti-drug propaganda and let it take over his whole life. He was doing it five days a week and surrounding himself with some of the best-known suppliers. Now he's unemployed and lives with his folks.

Parents, please don't let your kids end up like Justin. There are some warning signs that your loved one may be addicted to the drug war, such as lying about drug use statistics and hanging out with sketchy people like David Murray.

They'll usually try to rationalize the behavior ("I'm just doing my job"), but the truth is that supporting the drug war is associated with impaired judgment and prolonged exposure can turn you into an insufferable jerktard.

Has Obama Made a Good Choice for Drug Czar?

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is reporting that Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske will likely be Obama’s nominee for director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, commonly referred to as the drug czar. It appears that we may soon be faced with the most promising drug czar ever to occupy the position.

To be clear, Kerlikowske is not a friend of drug policy reform to any extent I’m aware of. What matters here is that I see no evidence that he is a vicious drug warrior of the sort commonly associated with the drug czar post. Given that ONDCP is mandated to oppose reform efforts and has typically embraced that role, a less confrontational and reefer madness-driven drug czar is really the best case scenario from a drug policy reform perspective.

Under Kerlikowske, Seattle has been a model for sensible marijuana policy, including the famous Seattle Hempfest at which the Seattle Police Department performs a public safety role while declining to make marijuana arrests. Following the passage of a 2004 lowest priority initiative, the city’s already-low rate of marijuana prosecutions fell even further, suggesting that Kerlikowske was responsive to the will of voters.

In that sense, he offers a dramatic departure from ONDCP’s shameful history of undermining state medical marijuana laws and inserting itself into state politics for the purpose of thwarting reform efforts. In an office typically run by military officials and political hacks, Kerlikowske would bring expertise in community policing and public relations.

As drug czar, I have no doubt that Gil Kerlikowske would oppose drug legalization and serve as our primary opponent on many issues. Nevertheless, at first glance, my gut instinct is that after several drug czars from hell, a guy from Seattle doesn’t sound so bad.

Update: I'd be remiss not to mention that Kerlikowske's immediate predecessor was Norm Stamper.

The Drug Czar’s Blog Should be Used for Good Instead of Evil

I noted last week that the drug czar’s blog deleted all of its old posts, essentially destroying the single best record of former drug czar John Walters’s "achievements" during the Bush Administration. Only three items have been posted since, none of which are particularly noteworthy.

Meanwhile, the Obama Administration is pushing a handful of notable criminal justice and drug policy reforms, including racial profiling legislation, sentencing reform, needle exchange and an end to medical marijuana raids. We don’t know yet who Obama will select to fill John Walters’s stinky boots, but wouldn’t it be nice if that person used the blog to keep us updated on efforts we can actually support? I’d cherish any opportunity to link approvingly to that site.

Having already been bombarded by drug policy reform’s vast web-based army, it’s only logical for the new administration to now reach out to us through a familiar medium and spark positive discussion of the changes we all agree are needed.

Obama Appoints Temporary Drug Czar

Amidst the inauguration fanfare, we failed to notice that Obama immediately appointed ONDCP’s general counsel Ed Jurith to serve as acting director, i.e. drug czar. You can read Jurith’s bio here and my thoughts on him here.

This is interesting because it’s a definite improvement over Bush’s last minute appointment of Patrick Ward, another ONDCP insider, to run the office upon John Walters’s departure. Jurith is hardly a friend of reform on any issue I’m aware of, but his background is in law, while Ward has been directly and heavily involved in interdiction programs.

With Jurith being the preferable choice, I’m wondering if Obama actually did this for the right reasons as he looks for a permanent candidate to fill the position. That’s impossible to say, but it’s a small step in the right direction. Let’s hope for a bigger one soon.

Bush Appoints Interim Drug Czar

Speculation about Obama’s as yet unknown choice for drug czar just got a little more interesting. Today, the White House  announced that ONDCP’s acting Deputy Director Patrick Ward will be promoted to acting director. In other words, the much-anticipated next drug czar will be…Patrick Ward.

He’s a former Air Force guy who joined the federal drug office to run foreign interdiction efforts:


… Mr. Ward is in frequent and close contact with relevant officials from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the United States Coast Guard, the Central Intelligence Agency, and departments of Defense, Homeland Security, State, and Justice. Mr. Ward co-chairs the relevant National Security Council Policy Coordinating Committee on International Drug Control, and represents ONDCP at meetings of the NSC Deputies.


To put it mildly, Ward isn’t a public health specialist. He’s a drug warrior who knows how to fly fighter planes. He’s everything we’re hoping to avoid with Obama’s theoretically pending drug czar nomination.

So what the hell is going on here? I have no idea. With only a week left in office, there’s no way Bush did this without a nod from the Obama camp. It’s become increasingly clear that Obama isn’t ready to fill the position, so I guess someone’s gotta do it. An interim appointment suggests that we’ll be waiting a while for Obama’s choice, and in the meantime, we’ll have a full-blown drug warrior running the show.

That sucks, and it’s Obama’s fault, but what can really be said about it? Jim Ramstad’s name was floating around, but mounting opposition appears to have disqualified him for good reasons. I’ll take a couple months of Patrick Ward if it means we get someone better down the road, but it’s still hard to imagine Obama selecting someone I could support.

If nothing else, the fact that the drug czar appointment process has gotten so drawn out and confusing is certainly a result of the potent controversy now surrounding the position itself. I believe Obama recognizes that ONDCP is a seriously flawed institution and he’s trying to reconcile that with his perceived political obligations. That’s fine, but the longer he leaves the same people calling the shots at the drug czar’s office, the further he’ll find himself from the drug policy "paradigm shift" he proposed on the campaign trail.

Update: Pete Guither reminds me that this won’t be the first time we’ve had a temporary drug czar, so maybe it’s not as odd as I’ve made it sound. Still, I think it’s interesting that drug czar appointments get handled this way. The position just isn’t taken that seriously, either by the administration or the press. Maybe it wouldn’t be that way if there were a greater perception of flexibility in our drug policy, such that one drug czar could be really different than another.

Fortunately, this time the policy issues at stake are more visible than ever before. The President-elect has made some pretty strong statements about our drug policy and the madness of the last 8 years has solidified numerous coalitions that will vigorously oppose anyone who doesn’t promise big changes at the drug czar’s office.

Medical Marijuana Debate: MPP vs. ONDCP

This evening, Georgetown Law School’s chapter of SSDP hosted a debate on medical marijuana between MPP’s Assistant Communications Director Dan Bernath and ONDCP’s Chief Counsel Ed Jurith. Since the drug czar’s minions seldom subject themselves to public scrutiny, and only do so in D.C., it was my duty to document the dialogue.    

Bernath began with a reference to the recent discovery of a 2,700-year-old marijuana stash in the tomb of a Chinese shaman, establishing the extensive history of the medical use of marijuana. He described the dimensions of the current medical marijuana debate, including the support of the medical community, the benefits for a growing population of users, and the evolution of public opinion in support of protecting patients through ballot initiatives and state legislatures.

Jurith framed his argument from a legal perspective, providing a chronology of caselaw upholding federal authority to enforce marijuana and other drug laws. He emphasized the FDA approval process, insisting that reformers seek to bypass the traditional pathways through which medicines are deemed safe and effective. He focused heavily on dismissing the notion of a "fundamental right" to use medical marijuana, although Bernath hadn’t presented his position in those terms.

As the discussion proceeded, I was struck by Jurith’s continued preference for defending the legality rather than the efficacy of the federal war on marijuana. He just wouldn’t go there. In Q&A, I pointed out that the Raich ruling certainly doesn’t mandate a campaign against medical marijuana providers and that DEA demonstrates their discretion every day by declining to prosecute the majority of dispensary operators. Will he defend the raids in a practical sense? What determines who gets raided and who doesn’t? He responded with the notorious Scott Imler quote about medical marijuana profiteers, but never really answered the question.

So basically, the head lawyer at the drug czar’s office came forward to assure us that what they’re doing is technically legal, while failing in large part to actually help us understand why they do it. In turn, Bernath easily and convincingly depicted how ONDCP’s role in the medical marijuana debate consists entirely of opposing/interfering with state level reforms and blocking the exact research they claim is necessary.

I’d like to think that Jurith’s one dimensional presentation is indicative of the shrinking box from which his office draws its talking points on medical marijuana. Is the growing body of medical research and the solidification of popular support beginning to suck wind from the pipeholes of the proud protagonists in the war on pot? Jurith never compared marijuana to hard drugs, never employed the formerly obligatory "Trojan-horse-to-legalization" line, and generally declined to completely lie his face off when cornered. Maybe he’s just nicer than, say, this guy. But it’s also true that ONDCP as we know it is about to be dismantled and it may be that nobody over there currently gives a crap if the mild-mannered Ed Jurith is kind enough to put himself on the spot for the educational benefit of some law students.

Either way, by ONDCP standards, this was a fairly defanged defense of the war on medical marijuana. Jurith is absolutely correct that the federal government maintains considerable authority over the enforcement of our drug laws and it will be fascinating to see what happens when that power changes hands.

San Francisco Chronicle Catches Drug Czar in a Crazy Lie

The drug czar's recent claim that there are more medical marijuana dispensaries than Starbucks stores in San Francisco has finally achieved the level of public embarrassment it so thoroughly deserved.

San Francisco's Department of Public Health, which issues permits for medical marijuana dispensaries, is also befuddled by the federal data.

"It was extremely incorrect," said Larry Kessler, a senior health inspector at the department. "I don't know how they got that." [San Francisco Chronicle]

SF Chronicle obtained the alleged dispensary list from ONDCP and found double listings, closed businesses, and even a business in Los Angeles. With their fraud fully exposed, ONDCP has issued a totally bizarre reply saying it's "good news" that their story got press.

It’s straight-up insane. By the time you get to the part about how many Taco Bells there are in San Francisco, you’ll join me in hoping Sarah Palin is the next drug czar so we can at least get MSNBC to give these clowns the daily fact-checking they deserve.

Another Drug Czar Rumor

Pete Guither has the details. I agree with Pete that we’re just not going to know who the next drug czar is for a while still, but it’s worth noting that none of the names circulating thus far are very encouraging.

If we end up disappointed, it will be our own fault for thinking Obama’s nominee wouldn’t completely suck.

Bye Bye Bertha

Bertha Madras has apparently left her position as deputy director for demand reduction at ONDCP, as evidenced by a missing staff bio and this article identifying her as a "former" staffer. If drug abuse suddenly skyrockets, it will prove she was really good at her job. But I don’t think that’s gonna happen.

Instead, Bertha will be remembered for saying some of the most horrible things you could ever imagine. Here she is opposing overdose prevention and arguing that drug overdoses are good for you:

Madras says the rescue programs might take away the drug user’s motivation to get into detoxification and drug treatment.

"Sometimes having an overdose, being in an emergency room, having that contact with a health care professional is enough to make a person snap into the reality of the situation and snap into having someone give them services," Madras says. [NPR]

She will be difficult to replace, I’m sure.
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